


Covet

by Repeatinglitanies



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Adultery, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cheating, Do not copy on another site, F/M, Multiverse, familiar characters with different names, parallel worlds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:48:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23373430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Repeatinglitanies/pseuds/Repeatinglitanies
Summary: Five took the fatal shot. He knows he wouldn’t have done that again if given another chance.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 19
Kudos: 91





	Covet

Growing up in the house of a supposed billionaire philanthropist who was more headmaster than father taught Five that if he wanted something, he had to work to earn it. Young and foolish as he was then, Five actually bought Reginald Hargreeves’ lies. 

So like a wild animal forced to perform in exchange for snacks, Five did what was asked (more like demanded) of him. Though Five was never one to filter his thoughts or one to blindly follow instructions that he thought made no sense, even he wasn’t immune to the old man’s programming. 

When he wanted something, Five was told that he needed to do a certain set of actions in order to be granted access or ownership to it. Those were the rules. Besides, as a five-year old, he once got caught by one of the nannies stealing Number Four’s candy. Since Five could and had easily evaded any and all spanking attempts, the nanny (of course) reported it to Reginald Hargreeves.

There were no raised voices or any further attempts at corporal punishment (at least not in the way most parental figures would implement it). Instead, Five was rendered blind for the next three days. 

While Five didn’t fear the darkness, it did leave him unable to use his spatial jumps effectively, which to Five was like having a leg sawed off.

Needless to say, Five never stole again (at least while he was living under Reginald Hargreeves’ roof).

There had never been a doubt in Five’s mind that his adoptive father was the smartest man he had ever met. The old man’s intellect surpassed even Five’s own (at least for the moment). It was, after all, that same intelligence that helped to develop the device that made Five temporarily go blind. 

Not a lot of people got the better of Number Five, even at five years old. And for that, he respected Reginald Hargreeves. At the same time, since Five was also a sore loser, it made him contemptuous of his adoptive father, a feeling that only grew as Five got older. 

This only culminated on that fateful day Reginald Hargreeves yet again forbade Five to attempt time travel. And in Five’s indignation, he did it anyway. And got himself stuck in the apocalypse.

That was when Five really grew up. He had to grudgingly admit that the old man made pretty good points. 

The end of the world was where Five learned that a lot of what Reginald Hargreeves taught him and his siblings were relevant such as how to use what was available to survive, to stand back up no matter how seemingly insurmountable the problem was and to always go on the offensive. Five liked to think that he always had these qualities. But he couldn’t deny that Reginald’s training helped reinforce them.

On the other hand, there were other lessons that turned out to be nothing more than a means for Reginald Hargreeves to control him and his siblings. Nothing more than lies, as far as Five was concerned. Deceptions such as the existence of bad guys and good guys (Five spent a lot of time reading in the apocalypse and found it hard to see that heroes lauded by history to be any better than the ones downgraded to being devils incarnate) or the one where one had to earn something to be worth something (in a time where nothing anyone did made a difference in the state of their mortality, that turned out to be one of the bigger whoppers).

And then there was the other related lesson of having to work for something beyond yourself and eventually being rewarded by a higher power for your hard work. While there was some truth in that, his time with The Commission certainly taught him how that couldn’t be put to universal application. 

The Commission's main reason for existence was to safeguard the timeline, specifically the one where the apocalypse happened. No matter the quality or quantity of jobs he did for the Commission, there was no way they would reward him with a change in their mission statement.

If anything, the Commission taught him to take what he wanted. If there was something in the way of your goal, get rid of it. If there was something you needed to do in service to that goal, do it and to hell with how it would affect other people. 

So that’s what he did. Against their directive, he managed to travel to 2019 and stop the end of the world and by doing so, destroyed the Commission. Or to be more precise, prevented the Commission from ever existing in the first place.

But at the cost of Vanya’s life.

Funny, throughout the eight days leading to the Apocalypse, he only gave a passing thought for Vanya. Five was so focused on stopping the death of billions of lives that he never once stopped to think of what he was going to do after he succeeded. 

Well, that wasn’t completely accurate. Five wasn’t one to pick a battle he thought he had no chance of winning. So there was a part of him that recognised that he could still be alive after he finished his mission. And the only reason he couldn’t spare enough time for Vanya was because he was too busy trying to save her and the other souls living in 2019 to apply himself to whatever was going on with her.

He did remember thinking (on that brief second before walking out of her apartment) of coming back to Vanya and helping her when all the mess with the apocalypse and the Commission was over. But it was an abstract thought. Her plea for him to stay tore at his heart (though he wouldn’t admit it out loud, not in a million years). But for all his genius, it was something he didn’t know how to deal with. So he put it aside as something he would think about working on later, something he didn’t have definite plans for (at least not one as defined as tackling the end of the world).

Five didn’t make the decision to point the gun on the back of Vanya’s head and shoot, at least not lightly. He wished it was Harold Jenkins who would be at the receiving end. It was just too bad he didn’t get to the recently one-eyed and deceased man before he made contact with Vanya.

However, that was not the card he was dealt. And he had done the math so many times for so many years. He knew that one person was responsible for the apocalypse. And when the time came, he knew he would do everything in his powers to stop that person from enacting it.

But he wished it didn’t have to be that way. Though to be honest, that wasn’t completely true. Five had long made peace with having to take a life to save billions. He just didn’t expect or count on that life to be Vanya’s. 

He had read Vanya’s book from cover to cover for so long that he felt closer to her in that apocalyptic wasteland with only her thoughts and Dolores for company than with any other person on the planet. 

If pressed to answer how he was able to carry on for so long in the apocalypse, he would say that it was simply because he decided to survive long enough to prevent it. But what he won’t or can’t say was that his determination stemmed from Vanya’s book and the reminder that there was at least one person who wanted him to come home. Five would have once scowled and derided that sentiment. But being alone for decades had managed to instill in him the appreciation for the power of bonds and connections. And how such so-called sentiments could somehow carry a person through so much sorrow and regret.

But it was the fate of the world on the line. How could one life compare to the life of billions? So he took the shot.

Looking back, Five didn’t know if he would have done it again had his consciousness somehow been brought back to that moment.

Because living in the world after Vanya only reminded him of her every day. Five might not have Klaus’ abilities, but he felt like he was the subject of a haunting. Whenever he happened upon a song playing on air, the twittering of birds, or even the brush of the wind against branches, he would remember her and think of how she would have enjoyed those small moments of harmony.

When asked about Vanya’s ghost, Klaus had told him that their sister had passed on. She wasn’t following him at all, at least not in the way Ben followed Klaus.

And for some reason, Five thought that was even worse. At first, he found it unbelievable. Five did cause her death. So why wouldn’t she choose to haunt him forever until the day he died? He now felt sympathy for Heathcliff from _Wuthering Heights_ , the bastard. 

Five never time travelled again. But not of his own volition. 

Something had broken in him that day as he was on the floor splattered in Vanya’s blood and cradling her body, her suit still somehow a pristine white. He had tricked Allison into thinking he was on her “Save Vanya” side. And that was how he was in the perfect position to end the nightmare that was the apocalypse. 

Only to live a new nightmare where he had to face the reality that he had murdered the one person he would have most wanted to spend time with after the apocalypse was averted.

Allison never did speak to him again, even after she regained use of her vocal cords. Sure, she spent days and weeks (and more) mourning Vanya. But at least she had her daughter (and Luther) to remind her that there was something to look forward to in the future.

Five never did figure out what he wanted to do after stopping the end of the world. So he went back to what he knew best: time travel.

Five had made several attempts. But it seemed that door was barred to him forever.

Stubborn bastard that he is, he still tried anyway. Every single day. Even when he went through and passed puberty a second time. Even as he finally went to college, got his Masters and then his PHD. Those were things he did just to pass the time until he could successfully jump through time again.

Someone once said that doing the same thing over and over again, while hoping for a different result was the very definition of insanity.

Perhaps, in a way, that was what Five was. That is, until his latest attempt conjured up a portal.

Without a second thought, Five decided to step through it.

______________

Ava loved her husband. She and Sage had known each other since they were babies, having grown up in the same house with the same legal guardian. It wasn’t the best of households to grow up in though. Their guardian believed in using competition to bring out the best in his charges. And Reginald Hargreeves had many charges.

At the time, Ava didn’t think it a blessing to be at the bottom of the totem pole. Or more accurately, not even a part of the hierarchy. But because of that, Sage never saw her as competition. He trusted her to watch his back (it was the same for her). And that meant the world to the totally neglected and overlooked Ava. Because with Sage, at least there was someone who saw and appreciated her. 

It seemed only natural that they became lovers.

But this love came at a price. When Hargreeves found out, the old man issued an ultimatum: break up or be unceremoniously kicked out of the house.

In their youth and naïveté, they decided to leave with disastrous results. 

Neither of them were comfortable with the rundown apartment they managed to get or the minimum wage jobs that didn’t actually inspire them to get out of bed in the early hours of the morning, but she’d like to think that they found some sort of contentment in being together and away from Reginald’s control.

It took time but Sage managed to get a scholarship and a stipend. And it seemed like things were going back on track.

But then Ava got really sick. The type of sick that needed a lot of money to cure. However, with the state of their finances or lack of it, Sage swallowed his pride and even begged Reginald for help. 

Ava only found out days later when their sister came to visit.

Needless to say, Ava wasn’t surprised when the old man said no. She already knew that there was no hope for her the moment the doctors disclosed how expensive treatment would be.

She didn’t regret leaving the house she grew up in. She didn’t regret the hardships that followed after. But that was because it came with the knowledge that she and Sage would face whatever comes together.

But what would happen to Sage when she died? He was more than capable of making something of himself, with or without her. But he had never been completely alone before. And from what their sister told Ava, Sage completely burned bridges with Reginald Hargreeves upon hearing his answer.

Ava never did find out how exactly Sage reacted. But what followed was the old man forbidding everyone in the household from talking or even associating with Sage. And given how everyone even their siblings were beholden to Reginald, their brothers and sister had to follow or else face consequences.

But because the old man didn’t say anything about talking to Ava, her siblings took every chance they could get to visit her at the hospital, finally giving Ava the display of affection she had always hoped for (though not quite like this).

At the time of her illness, all the hospital could do was ease her pain. On more than one occasion, she found Sage asleep on the chair, in a position that could not have been comfortable. He had spent the day holding her hand, stroking her hair, and every other thing Sage could think of to try to make her feel better. The hospital didn’t allow visitors to stay over. So he would sneak back in some time after the night shift nurse finished her midnight rounds.

If it were even possible, he seemed to have lost a lot more weight than Ava did. And she suspected he only went back to their apartment for a shower and a change of clothes. From what Ava could tell, whatever sleep he got was from while he was here with her.

She felt like weeping. 

Ava wanted to be strong for him, to put on a brave face and tell him to move on and find happiness even after she was gone. However, it seemed that she wasn’t resolute enough or brave enough. Perhaps her own fear for her mortality showed on her face when she told him to live his life for the both of them. 

Because Sage started leaving her alone in the hospital for days on end. And with a growing sense of dread, Ava knew what that meant. Not that he had abandoned her. But that he was refusing to let her go.

In the end, he did manage to get the money for the treatment. 

Sage remained tight-lipped on where it came from. Just as he was secretive about what exactly he now did for a living or why he was expected to keep odd hours. Ava figured that he’d tell her, given enough time. After all, they had always been each other’s confidantes, which meant they trusted each other more than anyone else in the world.

But it was starting to look like her new lease on life was some sort of twisted afterlife. Nothing was ever the same since Sage managed to save her from death. 

They now lived in a beautiful house. The type of house Sage knew she had always wanted to have. And with his pay, Ava could finally earn her Music Degree. Sage gave her everything she once told him she wanted back in their days at Reginald’s house and back in the days of their run-down apartment. All except the one thing she most valued.

Because what she truly wanted was to be able to talk to him again. To truly talk with him listening to her and telling her how his day went. She would even welcome his complaints, as long as it was about how he truly felt. 

However, Sage seemed to have erected this impenetrable wall around him. And for some reason, he wouldn’t even let his wife in. 

Crass as it may sound. But sometimes the only thing that made her believe he still loved her was the sex. Because as soon as the doctors said it was safe, Sage was at her like an animal, as if he couldn’t get enough of her, as if he needed her and she was the only thing keeping him sane and alive, as if it was their last night on the planet, as if he feared losing her the next moment.

Ava understood that to him, she was almost lost to him forever. And it made sense for him to react this way. But it carried on for far too long.

It made her wonder what exactly he had to do to get her well again. 

So she followed him and found out.

Strangely enough, it wasn’t the knowledge that her husband could kill an entire family in cold-blood that had Ava sleeping in a separate bedroom. She knew that he didn’t enjoy what he did and had no choice but to follow orders once he accepted the money he used to save her life.

But when she suggested going to the police or (in a desperation that showed she wasn’t thinking clearly) to their former guardian (who had substantial connections in the country), Sage was vehement in his refusal. He told her of what the criminal organisation he was now a part of could do and how extensive its reach was. 

Looking him in the eyes, Ava knew that was part of the reason. But not the whole truth. Because from the way he described this shadowy, criminal organisation, she could tell that he had no intention of leaving, even if he were given the opportunity to do so without consequence.

Ava had always known Sage to be ambitious. The only reason he tolerated their old apartment was because he knew that it was only a temporary abode. He had every confidence that he would get them out of there and into something better. 

Unlike Reginald Hargreeves, it looked like this organisation recognised and appreciated Sage’s intellect and resourcefulness. Ava had no doubt that Sage was on the fast track to whatever counted as management. And it scared her. Because she knew that one way or the other, it would end badly for him.

Sage may not think so. But Ava didn’t think his fate would be any different from its other members that died of anything other than old age.

The problem was that there was no way to convince Sage once he made up his mind. In a way, she did understand. Sage wanted the power this organisation brought. He had experienced being abjectly helpless and dependent on another person’s charity. And with Reginald Hargreeves being the other person, it certainly made Sage want power even more. In his mind, it was better to have power by any means than to have none at all.

Sage expected her to accept how things were, tried to assure her that everything was going according to his plans. But he didn’t get it. She wasn’t thinking about what his criminal activities would mean for her.

Ava was extremely concerned of what this lifestyle would do to him. Because she couldn’t see a future that ended happily for him or for the both of them with this organisation. How could it when he was expected to dole out pain, suffering and death?

To say that her husband’s job put a strain in their relationship was putting it mildly. By barring him from her bed, Sage wrongly interpreted that Ava wanted him out of sight. 

From then on, Ava went days on end without seeing him.

And in fear of accidentally revealing Sage’s secret to their sister Allie and the rest of their siblings, Ava eventually broke off contact. Not that she thought her siblings would call the cops on Sage. Just that Ava knew the secret would eventually make its way to Reginald Hargreeves’ ears, which was an even worse outcome.

So she found herself declining offers to hang out, to go shopping or to have drinks until Allie finally got the picture and ceased inviting her. The others had stopped long before Allie did.

If it wasn’t for her studies, Ava might have just decided to curl up in bed and sleep forever. 

But not once did she ever think of packing up her things and walking out of her home with Sage forever. Even when it felt like he was no longer hers, Sage was all she had left. So she stayed, hoping for a miracle, one where Sage realised that this was neither the safe or the right way to acquire power and influence.

He always remembered her birthdays, sending her gifts (some expensive, some not but all of them were ones he knew she loved) and cards written in his familiar scrawl. It brought tears to Ava’s eyes. A part of her wondered if she should just give in. Clearly, Sage wasn’t going to approach her without her consent or forgivenesses. This semi-separation wasn’t enough for him to give up on his bloody, violent climb to the top. 

But Ava did wonder if she had to make a compromise. 

This was short lived. In what seemed like no time at all, thoughts of meeting him halfway went to an immediate screeching halt when someone sent her a video recording. Ava didn’t know who the sender was. But it did come with a note saying, “This is what your husband’s been up to.”

Ava wanted to throw the recording away. She didn’t want to know what he had done or what he was doing. But at the same time, she couldn’t stop herself from pressing play and witnessing Sage in the arms of another woman, entwined in an act that could only be seen as an ultimate betrayal between spouses.

Ava spent the rest of the day washing herself in some half-crazed belief that soap and water could somehow cleanse the image of infidelity permanently engraved in her mind. 

Someone must have tipped him off of the video because Sage rushed home to her not long after. 

Ava was prepared to hear his excuses, that he fell in love with someone else, that he would let her go to live her life or that it was a mistake that would never happen again.

But instead, what she got was: “I’m doing this for us, Ava.”

Sage didn’t go into much detail. While he did in fact sleep with another woman, it was (according to him) all part of a play to bump off the eponymous other woman (who happened to be his direct superior in the organisation).

Ava truly didn’t know what to say to that. But at the moment, all she wanted was to be left alone. So with a tone she had never once used on Sage even in their most heated fights, she told him exactly what she wanted him to do.

“Get out.”

_____________________

Sage was the only one who really drank alcohol at home. So during one of the many times he left her alone after finding out about his indiscretion (she honestly didn’t know if she could even call it that given how he carefully orchestrated it to murder the woman he was having an affair with), Ava cleared her house of Sage’s stash.

She regretted it days later. And not because Sage reacted with a violent outburst. In fact, she would have been happier if he had. 

Instead, Sage started acting like their former guardian. He didn’t even comment on it. He didn’t even make plans to restock. But he did stare at her as if saying that he was disappointed in her.

That same night, she developed a great urge to drink. And it was just her luck that there was none to be had at home.

So she found herself drinking alone in a bar. A couple of men tried to pick her up but most of them backed away after seeing her wedding ring. One, though, wouldn’t take no for an answer. Quickly losing her patience, Ava was prepared to scratch his eyes off when the man was suddenly slammed face first on the nearest hard surface, which happened to be her table.

Ava had to blink several times when she got a look at her “knight in shining armor.” Because he looked like he could be Sage’s twin brother.

But that couldn’t be. Ava had a look at Sage’s birth certificate. It was clearly a single birth.

And yet, she couldn’t deny that he had the same build, height and eye color. If she didn’t know better, Ava would have thought it was Sage playing a nasty prank on her.

That was impossible though. If asked how she knew, all Ava could say was that the fundamental difference between the two men were in the eyes. She wouldn’t have believed it if she wasn’t looking straight at this doppelgänger. But he looked even more jaded than Sage, as if he had seen more tragedy and horror than anyone on the planet.

Of course, Ava felt obligated to buy him a drink, which quickly multiplied as she found herself enjoying his company. Maybe it was the alcohol. But it was like she was with Sage again, not as he was now. But back then when they were both on the same side and ready to take on anything that came at them, bolstered by the knowledge that they had each other’s back.

Maybe that was why she felt no alarm or hesitation when he invited her to his motel room. Or why she readily accepted his proposition, his touch, his kisses and his body. 

When he climaxed, Ava thought she heard him call out a name.

It sounded like Anya or something. Ava didn’t mind. Perhaps he also saw this as a respite from missing someone so far out of reach.

That was her last thoughts before she fell asleep with his arms around her.

_______________

Ava’s husband was an idiot.

But Five wasn’t complaining. Sage’s loss was his gain after all. He had been watching her for sometime now. And Ava was so much like Vanya that he knew he wanted her, that he had to have her. Forever, or as close to it as he could manage.

Somehow, he would convince Ava to see him again.

For as many times as necessary until she decided to leave her husband for him. It shouldn’t take long. After all, he did leave an entire world behind just for her. 

Could she say the same about her husband?


End file.
